Friday, April 18, 2014

Senegal Minister of Agriculture visits AfricaRice-Senegal Station

A high-level delegation led by His Excellency Dr Papa Abdoulaye Seck, Senegal Minister of Agriculture and Rural Equipment, accompanied by the Assistant to the Governor of Saint Louis region, in charge of development Mr Babacar BA and Regional Director of Rural Development (DRDR) Ms Tacko Diawara Ndao, visited AfricaRice-Senegal Research Station in Saint Louis, 14 April 2014. Dr Seck is the former Director General of AfricaRice.

This visit formed part of Dr Seck’s meetings in Saint Louis region to discuss with rice farmers and scientists about the Government’s new “Accelerated Program for Agriculture in Senegal (PRACAS).” During the expedition, Dr Seck chaired a workshop on the completion of a study on ‘The competitiveness of rice of the Senegal River Valley” organized by the French Development Agency (AFD).

At AfricaRice Saint Louis Station, the delegation was warmly welcomed by the staff led by the Regional Representative Dr Vincent Bado. Presentations were made on AfricaRice’s new initiatives and recent achievements in the development of improved varieties and accompanying technologies for the Sahel region. The potential of AfricaRice’s new Regional Training Center in Saint Louis was highlighted.

The Government of Senegal has a national policy to increase rice production to reach self-sufficiency by 2017. AfricaRice has been helping the Government to operationalize its rice development strategy. On behalf of the Interim Director General of AfricaRice Dr Adama Traoré, Dr Bado assured full support from AfricaRice to achieve the targets of PRACAS.

AfricaRice headquarters is based in Côte d’Ivoire. Staff are located in Côte d’Ivoire and also in AfricaRice Research Stations in Benin, Liberia, Madagascar, Nigeria, Senegal and Tanzania. For more information visit: www.AfricaRice.org

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CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food-secure future. CGIAR science is dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security, and improving natural resources and ecosystem services.

Its research is carried out by 15 CGIAR Centers in close collaboration with hundreds of partners, including national and regional research institutes, civil society organizations, academia, development organizations and the private sector. www.cgiar.org